DETROIT (AP) -- A little-known tax break for music producers that could help put Motown back on the music map has been available for two years in Michigan -- but no one has taken advantage of it. Read the complete article
In 1980s Portland, the Alberta neighborhood was nothing what it was today. Author Heidi Durrow just called it “dangerous.” Now living in Los Angeles and New York, the former Portlander recently published her debut novel, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” about a mixed-race girl growing up in none other than the Rose City of the 1980s. Read the complete article
NEW YORK (AP) -- Want to be the first one on your block with a 3-D television? It will cost you about $3,000.
Samsung and Panasonic will start selling 3-D TVs in U.S. stores this week, inaugurating what manufacturers hope is the era of 3-D viewing in the living room. But because the sets require bulky glasses, and there is for now little to watch in the enhanced format, it will take at least a few years for the technology to become mainstream, if that happens at all. Read the complete article
During a big televised event such as the Grammys, it is almost impossible to be on Twitter or Facebook and not be aware that the event is happening. At the water cooler that is social networks, big shows like the Grammys and Oscars can dominate the conversation and galvanize an audience. Read the complete article
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An attorney for Michael Jackson’s mother confirms that child services workers are investigating the presence of a stun gun at the Jackson family home, but he says the late singer's children were never exposed to the weapon. Attorney Adam Streisand confirmed the investigation Tuesday but said the mail-order stun gun delivered to the home was confiscated before any harm was done. Read the complete article
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jazz legend Herbie Hancock will be feted at a belated 70th birthday bash at Carnegie Hall that will highlight the revival of a major summer jazz festival in the Big Apple. Read the complete article
From the styles we wear and the words we use, hip-hop culture affects our communities, our kids and our lives. For better or for worse, it is here to stay. That was the message at the second annual Northwest Hip-Hop Leadership Conference at the Seattle Vocational Institute Read the complete article
WASHINGTON (NNPA) -- Ky-Mani Marley, a son of the legendary Jamaican music artist Bob Marley, regrets ever putting his life on paper. His recently released memoir has become a brewing source of an increasingly ugly controversy between himself, his famous family and the book's publisher, Dr. Farrah Gray. Read the complete article
(NNPA) - There is much speculation in the news that retired NBA star and businessman extraordinaire, Earvin “Magic” Johnson is negotiating to purchase Johnson Publishing Company, the parent company of Ebony and Jet magazines. Sources close to the possible purchase said that the company's Chicago headquarters, a beacon of Black pride, on Chicago's South Michigan Avenue, would be included if the deal is consummated. Nothing was mentioned about the Ebony Fashion Show and the radio station that are also a part of the Johnson Empire. Read the complete article
This week’s “Picks” feature some big familiar jazz names, as well as one new to me. He is the very talented Noel Webb, a superb violinist and bandleader. But first: one of my all time favorites, tenor saxophonist Houston Person. Read the complete article
